Khamenei's funeral comes to an end amid expectations of new leader's appearance

The week-long funeral of Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, will come to an end this Thursday (9), when his body will be taken to the final burial site, at the shrine of Imam Reza, in the city of Mashhad, in the northeast of the country, where Khamenei was born.

The main question hanging over the ceremonies is whether Mojtaba Khamenei, the new supreme leader and son of the dead ayatollah, will make a public appearance.

Mojtaba has not yet been seen in public, and his absence raises doubts about his health and raises questions about who is running the country. He is believed to have been injured in the joint US-Israeli attack that killed his father, mother, wife and other family members.

Mojtaba's first public appearance would be a moment of great importance. Since the start of the war in late February, he has remained in hiding and has reportedly communicated with his supporters only through written statements released by the Iranian press and attributed to him.

Iran's Islamic Propagation Coordination Council announced on Thursday that a ceremony in honor of Khamenei will be held on Friday in the city of Qom, "under the auspices of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Imam Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei", the official IRNA agency reported.

It is not yet clear whether this means Mojtaba will make a public appearance. The most likely scenario is that the ceremony will be held in the name of the supreme leader.

Still, an appearance in Qom would make sense. The city is widely considered to be the second holiest site in Iran and the main center of Shia religious studies. On Tuesday, large crowds filled the city's streets during Khamenei's funeral ceremonies, although the new supreme leader did not attend.

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Source: CNN